S.H. Figuarts Space Sheriff Gavan & Saibarian Set Gallery

It’s that time again friends! A few weeks back we took at the fantastic new Space Squad release of Gavan Type G. This figure was a long overdue renewal that helped set the stage for the original Metal Hero himself to also receive this treatment. In this case though S.H. Figuarts Space Sheriff Gavan came packaged in a massive set with his unique ride the Saibarian!

Gavan like Type G really needed this renewal treatment. The old Gavan body was a pretty poorly made figure with numerous documented QC issues. While these new releases haven’t been perfect on that front, I’m looking at you chrome finish, they are above and beyond functionally better figures than the old releases. Gavan comes armed with 3 versions of his iconic Laser Blade as well as 4 sets of hands and a Laser Scope head. But the biggest and best accessory is of course the Saibarian! This long overdue bike is a top notch figuarts vehicle. Functionality it can fully transform, it’s got several tamashii stage ports built in for action shots, and despite being plastic, it has some decent heft to it. It’s a shelf presence.

The entire gallery of 150 images is attached to this post but feel free to “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post to read the full review and accessory breakdown as well! Next up on our gallery schedule is S.H. Figuarts Alien Metron from Ultraseven!

Recently we took a look at the long overdue renewal of S.H. Figuarts Gavan Type G from the Space Squad: Gavan Vs Dekaranger film. Well now it's the original Metal Hero's turn! Retsu Ichijouji was the first Metal Hero, the original Space Sheriff Gavan, and thanks to the powerful resurgence Metal Heroes have experienced this year, he too has gotten a figure renewal. In Retsu's case though we've been treated to a massive 2-pack including S.H. Figuarts Space Sheriff Gavan & his futuristic super bike the Saibarian!

** Physically this toy is very similar to the original release of Space Sheriff Gavan though it's ostensibly meant to be a renewal of that mold. There are physical differences but you'll find this release very similar as well.

This gallery will be spit into 4 posts, see each for a specific note of what they contain.

Packaging
So for this massive two-pack we get a pretty stellar box with some primo stock photos of Gavan riding the Saibarian and a great star covered back ground. Much like the new Type G this box just screams Gavan more than ever. I love the new style of packaging they've gone with for these.

Main Figure
So like I said up above, this mold is VERY similar to the original mold used for Gavan. And of course it's a straight repaint of the new Gavan Type G release. Unlike Type G, original Gavan doesn't come with any new accessories that Type G didn't, though he does have his Saibarian to ride. But I'll be discussing it separately down below. The Gavan portion of the review will be word for word identical in sections to my Type G review.

Note that in comparison shots, the renewal version of Gavan will be on the left with the original release on the right. Now with the statements I made above out of the way, I want to start by saying that this mold really is a great improvement over the original. It's not immediately something you notice, but more something that comes to mind as you handle it further. Starting at the bottom, the feet don't get a lot more clearance, so there isn't much to talk about there.

The knees have the same old bends, but the hips are vastly improved. I do feel they're a lot tighter on this release than they were on the new Type G though. Not only are they stronger, no more sagging joints, but they have much more clearance for rotating than the old one. However mine had some weird thick gunk on the left hip joint straight from the factory that you can see in a few shots. Just some weird oily stuff. And that brings us up to the waist, where with the old Gavan it was very gaunt and narrow, looking very awkward from the sides. And the lower torso could lift up in such a way that that entire section looked like it was disconnected from the waist. This version beefs things up nicely enough to make it look like a real person is conceivably in there. And there isn't a ton of articulation lost either.

By far the greatest improvement of the new Gavan is the chest and head details. They are far more bright and elaborate, more closely matching his appearances from the last 3+ decades. Also you can see Gavan's "eyes" beneath the standard black visor quite a bit better. They should always be at least partially visible like this. Even when you aren't using the included laser scope head. So this release gets top marks for this as well. The head itself is a hair larger and more proportional to the body than the first release too. Just adding to the overall improved look of this release over the original. I'll also mention that the arms aren't terribly different from the first one, though the shoulders seem to have much better clearance than before. Special note for this release of the mold, for some bizarre reason the right shoulder of my Gavan isn't glued on properly so every time I move that joint it flies off.

But the absolute best improvement again is right there in the hands. You can actually change out the hands without fear of shearing off a razor thin wrist peg in the process, which happened with the first original Type G I owned and was very common throughout both Gavan production runs. It's just as welcome this go around as it was with the new Type G.

Ultimately this figure may not appear physically to be all that different. But in reality the small changes and differences made to it from the original Gavan releases really are appreciable. I have to say I'm still fairly unsatisfied with the chrome applications this go around. While not inaccurate, the imperfections, scratches, and smudging to the chrome make it look like a used product. Especially that one big noticeable scratch on his chest. But all of these imperfections were present straight out of the box well.

1 - Laser Scope head. This alternate head replicates Gavan's visor lighting up as it does periodically. Originally an ability meant to allow Gavan to detect invisible monsters, it's since become synonymous with moments of either character powering up, or having showy flashy action. It's my preferred way to display this figure actually. I like how the eyes really pop.

4 - sets of additional hands. One set for weapon holding, one set for bike riding, then a split pair that includes a flat karate chop style hand, and one with a set of two fingers pointing forward to recreate the Lazer Z Beam attack, or to hold the end of the Laser Blade. And two open palm hands as well. Everything you'll need!

1 - Laser Blade. At first glance I thought this was just a repack of the original Gavan's blade from 4 years ago. But it is subtly different. The stripes on the hilt are a bit more narrow and engraved into it slightly deeper. It looks a little better than the original though no one would blame you for not seeing the differences.

1 - Laser Blade (Charge Up). This is one totally new accessory this go around. The original Gavan figuart didn't include a charged blade. Which was sorely lacking when even the ancient Toei Action Works figure included 1. In fact that included 4 Laser Blades, but I digress.

1 - Laser Blade (Slashing). Just as with the original two Gavan Figuarts releases this is the same weapon with a new sweeping slash effect added for action shots. The slash effect may be a slightly different shade of blue, but they're nigh identical aside form the new hilt.

As with Gavan Type G that's an excellent assortment of accessories. These two releases have really been great. I can't think of something specific to Retsu that I would have wanted that's missing this go around. And the best accessory is below anyway

Sabarian
Now this is the crowing achievement of this release. 4 years ago when the Gavan figuart was released the first time, I was really hoping for the Saibarian to happen. You see, as I've mentioned several times over the years, the old Toei Action Works Gavan was an excellent figure for it's time. A more than serviceable figuarts stand-in. So much so that Bandai even re-released it several times in conjunction with Gokaiger Vs Gavan. Even now the Action Works Metalder figure is still a fantastic companion to a Metal Hero figuarts collection, so the Action Works line has always been strong. But that old line had one more thing going for it in that a Saibarian was released! That vehicle came out way back in 2008. It's taken nearly 10 years for S.H. Figuarts to finally catch up with their release, and at long last I am proud to say that it is a more than worthy successor and replacement.

I haven't been this impressed with a figuarts bike release since Kikaider's Side Machine (which you'll see a comparison shot of). Coincidentally both of these bikes use the non-standard on yours knees stance for riding. That can be a bit awkward with Gavan's hips actually. And the quality of this release rivals one of my other favorites, the Tridoron! It doesn't have LED's or anything but it does look magnificent. The paint applications are very sharp and the physical details are massively on point. In many ways it looks better than the actual show prop did. This Saibarian can even transform by splitting down the center, which the Action Works release couldn't even do. This futuristic super bikes' turret on the side car is also on an angled arm that can rotate up. There are tamashii stage ports on the bottom of it so you can pose it like it's flying, even the sidecar break light can be removed exposing yet another tamashii port to hold figures with! This thing even comes with felt pads you can put on Gavan's feet so you don't scratch the paint finish! I don't think we've ever seen something quite that involved with a figuarts bike.

This vehicle is the dream for me personally as a Metal Heroes collector. It's just gorgeous and top notch quality. Now the real pipe dream is a re-release of the Saibarian in blue to go with Type G. We haven't seen his personal Saibarian in a few years in fiction, but I'd love to own it as well.

Final Thoughts
Overall, physical similarities and chrome imperfections aside, there's no denying that S.H. Figuarts Space Sheriff Gavan is greatly improved this time around. Space Squad was a great film and I'm really happy to see the films' success push this release out the door too. Honestly this is the golden age of Metal Heroes right now, I fully expect to see more renewals and other fantastic big sets like this one in the next year or so. Bring it on!